Apparatus for generating oil-gas



(No Model.)

M. 0. BURT.

APPARATUS FOR GENERATING OIL GAs.

No. 429,675. Patented June 10, 1890.

Witn sses. a 6, 6m Inventor.

25 5 By AM we NORRIS wanna co., wowm'mm, vIAsNmGT N n UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN C. BURT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR GENERATING OIL-GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 429,675, dated June 10,1890.

Applicationfiled December 23,1889. Serial No. 334,728. (No model.) A

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN O. BURT, a citizen of the United States,residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for GeneratingOil- Gas, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in an apparatus for themanufacture of gas by electricity, whereby the same is renderedautomatic in its operation, so that the manufacture of gas goes on onlywhen it is being used or consumed, all of which will be fully andclearly hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to theaccompa nying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional elevationrepresenting the complete apparatus. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of aportion of the apparatus, the counter-weight and its connecting partsbeing omitted. Fig. 3 is a detached front elevation of the arm forregulating the flow of 01 The object of my invention is to render everystep in the manufacture of gas by electricity automatic in itsoperation, the bringing of the battery elements into action, the formingand breaking the electric circuit, the admission of oil to the retort,each and all of these steps being automatic in their action, so thatwhen the consumption of gas stops the expense of the battery andeverything appertaining to the manufacture of the gas stops also.

111 said drawings, in which I have represented a suitable apparatus forcarrying out 'my invention, the battery cell or vessel is designated bythe numeral 1 and is made in the usual way. It is provided with twoapartments 2 and 3, for holding the separate elements composing thebattery. To each side, preferably, are connected the bars 4, which passup through the platform 5 and are connected by a cross-piece 6 auditsconnectingframe 7. To the frame 7 is connected a chain or cable 8,whichpasses over the grooved pulleys 9 and 10, and is then connected to acounter-weight 11. The object of this construction is tocounterbalancetheweight of the battery-vessel, so that it can be easilyraised or lowered. Near the cable 8 is connected to the frame 7 anothercable or cord 12,which runs up over the grooved pulley 13, and fromthence to and down over the grooved pulley 14., and is connected to thetop of the gas- .omete'r 15 in any well-known way. Fromthis'construction it will be seen that as the gasometer rises thebattery cell or vessel 1 falls.

' To the under sideof the platform 5 is securely fastened a zinccylinder 16, and within it is the carbon bar or cylinder 17, both beingpermanent-1y fixed in place, as shown in Fig. 1, sothat as thebattery-vessel is alternately raised and lowered, as before mentioned,the zinc and carbon forming aportion of the battery are alternatelyimmersed in the liquids in the vessel 1 or removed therefrom, and arethus automatically brought into or entirely out of action. Theoil-vessel 18 rests upon the platform 5 and is provided with a cover 19.It is secured to the vessel 18 by the bolts 20.

Directly below the oil-vessel 18 is the gasretort-holding vessel 21; butas this position is merely a matter of arrangement it may be placed inany suitable position without changing the nature of the invention. Thisvessel 21 is also provided with a removable cover 22, which is kept toits place by bolts 23, and is connected With the oil-vessel 18 by asmall vertical pipe 24, which communicates between the two vessels, Thelower end of the pipe 24 is madesmall enough, so thatthe oil passes veryslowly through it and falls down in drops upon the retort 25, which ispreferably made of platinum as the most suitable material; but any othermaterial adapted for the purpose may be used. 43 is a transparentportion of glass or other similar material, through which the interiormaybe seen when required. This retort is connected with the oppositepoles of the battery by the wire 26, connecting with the carbon and withthe retort at the point 27, and the wire 28 connects with a pivotedconnecting-bar 29, and through that with the wire 30, which connectswith the opposite side of the retort at the point 31. From the side ofthe retort, as shown in the drawings, in this instance, is a pipe 32,which passes into the water-vessel 33, and then up through and above thesurface of the water, so that the gas as it is formed goes into thegasometer.

To one side of the gasomcter is an arm 34, projecting therefrom and thendownward,

having at its lower end a forwardly-projecting or awider portion 35. Theobject of this construction is to provide the means for breaking theelectric circuit when the gasometer rises high enough by raising the endof the pivoted connecting-bar 29, as shown by the dotted lines 36.

Projecting from the arm 34, substantially at right angles to it, is abar 37, which projects into or through the slot 11 in the stopcock arm38 for the purpose of operating the stop-cock 39 to control the flow ofoilinto the retort. The construction of this stop-cock arm 38 is moreclearly shown in Fig. 3, where its upper position is represented, andits lower position, which opens the stop-cock, is designated by thedotted lines 38. From this construction it will be noticed that as thearm 37 rises with the gasometer it will close the stop-cock, and it maythen continue its movement in the same direction and pass out of theslot or opening 41 without disturbing it; but in its downward movementit will pass in again and open the stop-cock by bringing it into theposition shown by the dotted lines 38', and may then pass down stillfarther and out of the slot. By this means the flow of oil is stoppedwhen the gasometer is filled with gas, and as the gas passes out and thegasometer falls the flow of gas is started again and the battery is putin action, and thus all the different portions of the apparatus actautomatically as the gas is made and used.

The operation of the invention is as follows: The gasometer being at itslowest point or position, and consequently the battery-vessel 1 in itsupper position, the oilpipe 2t being opened so that the oil drops intothe retort, and the electric current being let on, gas is formed in theheated retort, and the gasometer begins to rise as it fills with gas.This movement causes the batteryvessel 1 to move down, which operationweak ens the battery and finally stops its action entirely. It alsoshuts off the flow of oil, as hereinbefore mentioned, and breaks theelectric circuit. In this condition the apparatus will remain and allaction and expense will stop until a suificient amount of gas is takenfrom the gasometer through the outlet-pipe 42 to permit it to come downlow enough to bring everything into action again, when the sameoperation will be repeated.

In the drawings I have shown for illustration an ordinary electricbattery; but any battery or any dynamo-electric machine of sutfieientpower for the purpose may be used. In some cases, where a differentbattery is used, for instance, the cable 12, connecting with thegasometer, may be omitted and the battery raised by hand when desirable.Under such conditions the automatic devices for operating the pivotedconnecting-bar 29 or switch and the means for operating the oilfeedingdevice could be used alone with the gas making and receiving mechanism.

I claim as my invention- 1. In an electrical apparatus for themanufacture of gas, the combination of an oil-vessel, a retort-holdingcase located below it, a communicating pipe between them, means forcontrolling the passage of oil through said pipe, a platinum retortlocated within the retort-holding ease and having one side connectedwith one pole of an electric battery and the other side connected with aswitch which is connected with the other pole of the battery, agasometer connected with the retort-case, and mechanism, substantiallyas set forth, connected with the bell of the gasometer, constructed andarranged to open and close the switch and operate the mechanism forcontrolling the supply of oil, substantially as described.

2. In an electrical apparatus for the manufacture of gas, thecombination of an oil-holding vessel, a retort-holding vessel locatedbelow it, a vertical pipe connecting the two together, a stop-cock forcontrolling the flow of oil in said pipe, and a retort located below thepipe within the retort-holdin g vessel, having its opposite sidesconnected with opposite poles of an electric battery, a switch locatedin the battery-circuit, a gasometer connected with the retort-holdingvessel, and means connected with the bell of the gasometor for operatingthe switch, substantially as described.

MARTIN C. BURT.

\Vitnesses:

JAMEs SANGSTER, ALLAN T. BENNETT.

